Gravity is the culprit of most kinds of back pain; due to its compressive force the discs in the back lose moisture, like squeezing out a sponge the discs dehydrate and allow the vertebra to move closer to each other. This increases the chance of pinching nerves, decreases flexibility, allows for misalignment and restricts the disc's ability to absorb nutrients. You don't just feel this compression, it actually can be seen, in fact; the force of gravity is so powerful that it can result in two-inches of height loss by the time you reach seventy.

What can be done to fight back against the long terms affects of gravity? One option is inversion therapy. Hanging upside down at as little as twenty degrees or as much as ninety for just a few minutes allows the spine and weight bearing joints to decompress. The user is held onto the table via a comfortable ankle clamp system, which allows the user to relax and stretch, and since the traction applied is the users own body weight they are receiving a stretch that is customised for their body.

The inner core of your discs is made of jelly-like material that provides the flexibility and "cushioning" in your back. When you are sitting, standing, exercising, or doing other weight-bearing activities, fluid is squeezed out of your discs and into adjacent soft tissue, just as moisture can be squeezed out of a sponge. As a result, your discs lose some of their height. To prove this fact, measure yourself in the morning and then again at night. You will lose half-an-inch to three-fourths-of-an-inch in height by the end of the day. (To see this change you can measure your true height or measure your waist. Height loss can be see in the size of the waist because although you are shorter your body mass is the same and therefore the 'column' of your body increases in diameter).

When you are lying down the compression in the spine is reduced enough to allow the discs to slowly reabsorb moisture and nutrition over the many hours you sleep. However, the discs may not always maintain their full height capacity, creating a total accumulation of height loss of up to two-inches in a life-time.

In fact, the only time in your life when you are giving your discs a break is when you are inverting. The Nachemson study1 provides some insight: A number of volunteers permitted a pressure sensor to be surgically implanted inside the third lumbar disc. The pressure inside the disc in the standing position was set at a base line of 100% and all other body positions compared to it. Interestingly one of the most compressive activities for the discs is sitting. The muscles in the stomach and back relax, but the pressure in the spine increases. If you are sitting in poor posture the pressure in the lumbar can climb as high as 250%. The real surprise occurred while lying down. The pressure inside the disc only lost 75% of standing body weight - it never went below 25%! This residual compression seems to be due to the hundreds of ligaments and muscles that encase the spine, holding it in compression like a mass of rubber bands. This study further indicated that the amount of traction force required to overcome the compression was a large number, approximately 60% of your body weight. Inversion to an angle of about 60° is the only practical way to offset that much gravity force while remaining relaxed. (Hanging by your arms will not create the same effect since it requires muscles to be engaged, plus the weight of the legs are much less then that of the torso and therefore the traction gained is not enough to bring the pressure to zero).

A bundle of nerves called the spinal cord runs through the spinal column; these nerves control communication from the brain to the rest of the body. Nerve roots exit between the vertebrae along the length of the spine in the passageway created by the discs. Damage to the discs or de-hydration/degeneration of the discs can result in nerve root entrapment, or what is commonly called a pinched nerve. Since the nerves extend into the body there can be pain that radiates into extremities.

Through the increased hydration to the discs during inversion the discs plump in height, effectively reducing the pressure and pinching on nerve roots.

So many of our daily activities lend themselves to misalignments and possible permanent postural changes; sitting at the computer with rounded shoulders, carrying a heavy bag always on one shoulder, even wearing high heels. Also, many of our most popular sports are one-sided and rotational, like golf, squash, tennis, which puts significant stress on the spine as well as develops muscles on a single side of the body.

Misalignments mean that the body weight is no longer supported by an alignment of bones, and therefore the soft tissue of the body must resist gravity. Misalignments are not always felt on the inside but left alone they can cause visual changes to your posture, and those changes can be degenerative. If you want to test this as home, take an empty aluminium can and place pressure on the top. The can will be able to maintain its shape even with great force applied because the sides are in alignment, but add a small dent to the can and it will crumble under half the amount of pressure.

When a vertebra is bumped out of alignment the ligaments and muscles that support the spine can hold it in misalignment through the compression that they generate. Since these ligaments and muscles are engaged even when lying down, creating pressure as much as 25% compared to 100% standing, it can be difficult for the spine to naturally come back into alignment. When inverted to 60° the pressure in the spine drops to zero, as shown in the Nachemson medical study, with the pressure off of the vertebrae and with some gentle stretching the vertebra has the opportunity to move back into alignment.

Stress and tension can cause pain and muscle spasms in the back, neck and shoulders, as well as headaches and other problems. Tense muscles can be attributed to misalignments of the spine, over stimulation of nerves, or poor removal of toxins by the lymphatic system and a lack of oxygen rich circulation.

A study conducted by physiotherapist L.J. Nosse² found that EMG activity, declined over 35% within 10-seconds of inversion, the effect was found to start at the very shallow angle of 25°. It is suggested that the stretch to the muscles while inverted allowed the circulation to enter the sore muscle, bringing oxygen rich blood; inversion also stimulated the lymph system to clear the muscle of the toxin build-up. The user therefore would feel a decrease in pain and the stiffness in the muscle would subside. As noted in previous sections, inversion also encourages re-alignment of the spine and decreases pressure on nerve-roots.

In a recent article, Dr. Howard Loomis³ discusses the importance of improving lymphatic drainage and explains the methods by which lymph moves. Not only does the stimulation of the lymphatic system occur by rhythmic muscle contraction, but it can also be assisted by venous pressure, respiration and gravity. Among his instructions for maintaining proper function of the lymph system, Dr. Loomis indicates elevating peripheral limbs as an additional method of stimulating lymphatic flow.

According to the book Better Back, Better Body⁴ by Joanne Broatch: Much back pain is caused by muscles that are cramped, tense and in spasm. Inversion can help relieve this kind of pain [by relaxing muscles and clearing muscle congestion].

Dr. John E. Sarno, of the New York Institute for Rehabilitation Medicine claims that in more than 90% of the patients that he sees for back pain either there is no structural abnormality or the 'abnormal' x-ray does not really explain the nature or location of the pain. He calls the disorder the 'tension myositis syndrome' and describes how the tension causes muscle pain in this way: The muscle tenses and this reduces blood flow in the muscles of the neck, shoulders, back, or the buttocks. This produces pain by allowing the accumulation of waste chemicals, much the same process that causes leg muscle fatigue after a long run because of lactic acid build up. When the muscles go into spasm in the lower back, it often leads you to believe (mistakenly) you have a disc problem.

Inversion [stimulates] the flow of lymphatic fluid which flushes out the wastes and carries them to the blood stream. And the lymphatic system needs all the help it can get. Unlike the cardio-vascular system, the lymphatic system has no pump. Only the alternate relaxing and contracting of the muscles moves the lymphatic fluid through the capillaries and the one-way valves pointing towards the major lymphatic ducts in the upper chest. Even in healthy relaxed muscles, the lymphatic fluid moves very slowly. Where muscles are in spasm, the fluid does not move, the carbon dioxide and lactic acid remain in the muscles and you experience pain. Inverting, or tipping the body so that gravity works with, not against one way valves, helps the relaxed, expanding and contracting muscles to push the fluid up to the chest where it is then dumped into veins of the cardio-vascular system to be cleansed.

Roger Jahnke, OMD writes about the lymph system from a holistic perspective in his article The Lymph⁵, describing gravity as one method of lymph propulsion:

Because gravity exerts such a substantial force and because lymph has so far to climb to get to the thoracic duct's entry into the sub-clavian vein, any inversion of the limbs or even the prone body position allows for a free flow of lymph unencumbered by the effects of gravity. Elevation of the lower limbs is often prescribed for health problems characterised by a pooling of interstitial fluids.

Also, for centuries yoga practitioners have recognised the concept of turning the body upside down to find relaxation. The head stand position is a form of "postural exchange" (reversing the direction of gravity). Not everyone wants to do headstands, so inversion on Teeter Hang Ups® equipment creates an easier alternative with the added benefit of joint decompression.

Results may not be typical and vary by user.
Please check with your physician prior to inverting.
Click Here for contraindications

• I use the inversion table about three to four times per week now and I would say I am 90% pain free most of the time and 99% pain free for the remainder of the time.
  
  
  • I rarely take pills anymore if at all. I play golf again which is something I thought I would never do again, but more importantly, I can play with my three year old son which is a blessing to me. The Teeter Inversion Table is the best thing I own. It saved my life. I am 6'4" and still close to 300 lbs. and I have no problems or fear of inverting on the table and hanging upside down. I recommend the Teeter Inversion Table to anyone suffering with back pain. Do yourself, your back and your family a favor and get one. Make your life normal again.
    
    —M. Rabiner, North Vancouver, BC
    
    
• Our son hurt his back and had heard about your Hang Ups®. I knew my two brothers each had one and thought maybe we could borrow one to try out. ...
  
  
  • Well, it seems they couldn't or wouldn't want to do without theirs, because they use them every day. My son bought one and thought it helped him. My husband has had a bad back for years, so my husband tried the one my son bought. Well, he thought it helped, so we bought one too! We live very close to each other, about 500 feet away. I guess he didn't want to borrow. Well, we now have our own, and I also use it on occasion. My husband used to get up in the morning, and was very bent over. He really walked looking at the floor. Now he stands much straighter. Our children even commented on the fact that he wasn't so hunched over. I am not saying it has miraculously cured him, but he is much better!
    
    Thank you!
    
    —R. Malzahn
• I first inverted at my Chiropractor and received such a dramatic result that day, that I got on the internet and came to the conclusion that the Teeter Hang Ups® was the best out there.
  
  
  • After buying and receiving the F5000, I was TOTALLY impressed with the QUALITY of the product, packaging, and materials. I am an electrical engineer, so it is hard to please me in this regard! I have a recently diagnosed herniated L4/L5 disk and have had low back problems for 20 or so years, so I have been looking for alternatives to surgery and a way to reduce/eliminate my need for pain medication. Since using the F5000 for almost 3 weeks, I have found that my pain has significantly reduced (Sciatica mostly) and I am able to do more than I have in the last several months. I use the table once a day (right before bedtime) for about 5-10 minutes and have been doing some of the stretching (at full inversion) shown on the DVD. I am able to relax much more quickly now and am looking forward to the long-term benefits that this form of exercise affords. Thanks so much, Teeter!
    
    —K. Anderson, Monday, January 02, 2006
• I recently purchased a pair of Teeter Hang Ups® [Gravity Boots] and an inversion rack. I've exercised regularly for years and have added [inversion] to my ever-changing routines...
  
  
  • I weigh approximately 250 lbs. so understandably they've taken some getting used to. But I have, and the amazing benefits have started to show already. Along with a newfound energy, acute pain from past sports injuries is far and few between. My back has never felt healthier and believe it or not my memory seems to be better as well due to the added circulation to my brain. The benefits seem to be endless at this point and it feels great, almost as if I'm turning the clock back in time. I've recently added the sounds of the rain forest to the whole experience and my goal is meditation while inverted, I call it, the temple of inversion (smiles). Thanks for the great equipment; I recommend it to anyone who wants to take their health and fitness to a much higher level.
    
    Thanks again.
    
    
• Follow-up letter: I've been a certified fitness trainer for 9 years, and previously a power lifter and body builder...
  
  
  • I no longer lift anywhere near as intense and like I said, I've added Hang Ups® to a radically different (than previous years) exercise routine (including crunches on the Hang Ups® rack). I presently have an on-going list of what I think the long and short term benefits will be beside the obvious. Some friends and I are convinced we are onto the fountain of youth to some extent in the form of circulation, complexion, and even vision and memory benefits and much more, again the list goes on and on. In conclusion, I felt compelled to at least mention my opinion. If nothing else, I'll be using Hang Ups® for a long time to come and recommending inversion equipment to people I know.
    
    —S. Excell, Palatine, IL
• My husband had begun contemplating back surgery to relieve his pain, and I got concerned. He has a very physical job as a Tree and Stump Removal expert...
  
  
  • The last few years he has been experiencing increasingly agonizing pain and was taking pain meds multiple times daily to get some temporary relief. The doctors gave him no hope of eliminating the pain, even with the surgery... I, myself, have had back problems ever since I can remember. In January I bought the F7000S inversion table. I did quite a lot of research on inversion and various products, and had settled on the Teeter [Hang Ups® Inversion Table]. My husband has been able to reduce taking his meds to only once a day 2 or 3 times a week, and has reduced the number of times he must lie flat each day... He is no longer contemplating back surgery right now and may be able to put it off indefinitely if he continues to improve with inversion. I use the inversion table every other day for about 3 minutes and have noticed the sciatic pain has been greatly reduced, my back pain has become more the exception than the norm, and I feel better in general. In fact, I can work all day without constant pain and I even felt good enough to join a "health and fitness" group. THANK YOU, Teeter Hang Ups®...You've given us hope.
    
    —D. Liberto, Clarence Center, NY
• I received the F5000 Inversion table yesterday and immediately assembled it. I purchased the F5000 because I have had continued back pain due to compressed discs in my lower back in the L1/L2 areas...
  
  
  • After I ran 4 miles this morning and cooled down, I inverted myself at 75 degrees for 30 seconds, then resting at 180 degrees, alternating for 20 minutes. As soon as I removed myself from the F5000, I immediately could feel instant relief from the normal pain and discomfort I experience after exercising! My lower back muscles were more relaxed, and I had more mobility and flexibility then I have had in some time after only one 20 minute session on the F5000 Inversion Table! I will include this inversion therapy daily for obvious reasons - the F5000 really works! It made a believer out of me after just one session! Thanks so much!
    
    —D. Bigelow, Waldorf, MD
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Inverted decompression has been shown to temporarily increase intervertebral dimensions and decrease pressure on intervertebral discs, helping the discs to rehydrate with fluids for greater shock absorption.  This results in reduced pressure on the nerve roots that exit the spinal column through openings that are controlled by the height of the disc. 

The Kane study⁶ demonstrated that gravity-facilitated traction produces significant intervertebral separation in the lumbar spine. The study concluded gravity facilitated traction may be an effective modality in the relief of low back pain.

The Nachemson study¹ measured internal disc pressure (in the 3rd lumbar disc) through a range of activities, including standing, sitting, bending and vertical and supine traction. The study demonstrated that when lying down, there is a residual pressure inside the discs equal to 25% of standing pressure. In a separate test, it indicated that traction equal to 60% of body weight was required to reduce the standing body pressure by 25%, suggesting that the pressure inside the disc could be reduced to, at, or near zero by applying traction equal to 60% of body weight while in the supine position.

The Nosse study⁸ found that EMG activity (an indicator of muscle pain) declined 35% within the first 10 seconds of inversion. The study also found that inverted decompression increases spinal length, concluding that there seems to be a correlation between a reduction in EMG activity and an increase in spinal length.

The Dimberg / Volvo study⁹ evaluated 116 people in a randomised controlled trial that lasted for 12 months. Two training groups and one control group were studied to assess the effect of gravity inversion on pain level and absenteeism due to LBP. Group 1 used inversion for 10 minutes once per day. Group 2 used inversion for 10 minutes twice per day. Group 3 was the control group. After 12 months, the employees in Group 1 and 2 decreased sick days due to back pain by 33%. The average sick days due to back pain fell by 8 days per individual in the treated group. The study concluded that inversion is an efficient and inexpensive way to improve employee health and possibly reduce sick day costs to the employer.

The Sheffield study¹⁰ evaluated 175 patients who were unable to work due to back pain. After eight inversion treatments, 155 patients were able to return to their jobs full time. The study concluded that the main basis for improvement was the stretching of paraspinal vertebral muscles and ligaments and possibly the widening of intervertebral discs. Patients experienced traction in a modified hip flexed position.

Of note were Sheffield's comments on the unsuccessful use of mechanical methods of lumbar traction, including Buck's method, horizontal pelvic traction using weights and pulleys, and a hydraulic apparatus that utilises a harness while the patient is in a standing position. Sheffield "has used all of these lumbar traction techniques with only equivocal results." After analyzing results from his gravity-assisted traction table, Sheffield states that "Results, especially in the treatment of nerve-root lumbar conditions, are encouraging."

The Sheffield study found significant improvement in cases of kyphosis, lordosis, scoliosis, and spondilolisthesis and, attributed the improvement to stretching of the paraspinal vertebral muscles and ligaments and possibly the widening of intervertebral disc space. It is interesting to note that Sheffield's results showed that natural traction applied by gravity to an inverted body were much more effective in relieving back pain than traditional mechanical traction.

The Gianakopoulos study⁹ found all subjects experienced intervertebral separation in the lower lumbar vertebrae. Study concluded that although mechanical traction has been used for centuries, only gravity assisted traction (inversion) offers an effective means of achieving pelvic traction at home.

¹    Nachemson, A., and Elfstrom, G., (1970): Intravital Dynamic Pressure Measurements in Lumbar Discs.  Scandinavian Journal of Rehab Medicine, supplement.

²   Nosse, L. (1978):  Inverted Spinal Traction.  Arch Phys Med Rehabil 59: 367-370. 

³   Loomis, H., et al (2000): The Importance of Improving Lymphatic Drainage.  The American Chiropractor 22: 14-18.

⁴   Broatch, J.  (1996): Better Back, Better Body - The New Inversion Way.  29-31.Vancouver, BC:  .

⁵ Jahnke, R., O.M.D. (2000): The Lymph. http://www.healthy.net/scr/Article.asp?Id=993.

⁶ Kane, M., et al (1985): Effects of Gravity-facilitated Traction on Intervertebral Dimensions of the Lumbar Spine. Journal of Orthopedic and Sports Phys Ther. 281-288.

⁷    Dimberg, L., et al:  Effects of gravity-facilitated traction of the lumbar spine in persons with chronic low back pain at the workplace.

⁸    Sheffield, F. (1964): Adaptation of Tilt Table for Lumbar Traction.  Arch Phys Med Rehabil 45, 469-472.

⁹  Gianakopoulos, G., et al (1985):  Inversion Devices:  Their Role in Producing Lumbar Distraction.  Arch Phys Med Rehabil 66, 100-102.